Maryland Governor Drops Plan for Women's Jail in Baltimore

by Charles Davis · 2011-02-07 11:59:00 UTC
Topics:

Watching HBO might make you think the city of Baltimore is a war zone -- a seedy den of crime and corruption. And no doubt, there's a good deal of both. But the truth is that the city's violent crime rate, like the nation's as a whole, has been falling for years, dropping 10 percent since 2006.

And now what is always the most lagging indicator – elected officials – appear to have recognized that positive trend, with the recent 2012 budget proposal unveiled last month by Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley dropping funding for a proposed $181 million women's jail in Baltimore that critics noted would primarily have been used to house nonviolent offenders and those who simply couldn't afford to post bail, i.e. people who shouldn't be behind bars in the first place.

As noted in a report from the Justice Policy Institute (JPI) released last month that Matt Kelley reported on here at Change.org, the proposed facility – the supposed need for which was based on outdated projections of a rise in crime – would have more than doubled Baltimore's capacity to incarcerate women. And as anyone familiar with the prison system in the U.S. can attest, if you build it, politicians and law enforcement will find a way to fill it.

In a message to opponents of the jail, JPI Executive Director and Change.org contributor Tracy Velázquez cited opposition from activists, including Change.org members, as ultimately what helped sink the plans for a new jail – at least for another year. And that delay “gives advocates a chance to push for a comprehensive plan for reducing the number of women in jail and funding more services and support for women.”

Budget shortages have led to politicians cutting programs for the poor and underprivileged across the country; corporate subsidies aren't going to pay for themselves, after all. But at least in this case, I think all activists can agree that Maryland has cut one jobs program -- jail construction -- that the poor could do without.

Photo Credit: Harold Neal

Charles Davis has covered Congress and criminal justice issues for public radio and Inter Press Service.
PREVIOUS STORY:
Success: Smaller New Orleans Jail Approved
NEXT STORY:
Make the Call! Stop the Torture of Special Needs Children in Massachusetts

COMMENTS (0)

    Comment Policy

    · All fields are required to comment.

    [X]

    Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the campaign on Change.org. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments which, as determined solely in our discretion: (1) are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; (2) include content solely intended to personally attack the campaign creator, (3) are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them; and/or (4) violate our terms of service and/or privacy policy. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion. Please also be advised that: (A) we do not actively curate and/or monitor in any manner whatsoever the comments made on the Change.org platform, and (B) the creator of each campaign on Change.org may remove any comment at her/his/its discretion.